Electric ventilating fan



July 11, 1933.

E. s. PRESTON 1,917,327 ELECTRIC VENTILATING FAN Filed oct. 16, 1931 2 SheetsSheet l Iqrcn Ea July 1933- E. s. PRESTON 1,917,327

ELECTRIC VENTILATING FAN I Filed Oct. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ea wdri Ref/'00 Patented July 11, 1933 UNITED STATES EDWARD S. PRESTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO ELECTRIC MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS ELECTRIC VENTILATING FAN Application filed October 16, 1931.

My invention relates to a ventilating appliance suitable for insertionin a window frame, either below the partly raised lower sash or above the partly lowered upper sash, for forcibly creating a flow of air regardless of temperature and wind conditions.

In its major object, my invention aims to provide a ventilating appliance of this class which can readily be adjusted so as to blow air either into the room or out of the latter; which will permit this reversal of direction to be made easily. without the use of any tools and without detaching any parts; and which will cause the main movable portions to be held firmly and noiselessly in either of the said two dispositions.

In a further object, my invention aims to provide an electrically driven ventilating appliance of this class which can readily be placed and maintained in operative position without requiring auxiliary fastening means of any kind. which can readily be adjusted to window frames of widely varying widths, and which will be relatively light in weight and low in cost.

For this purpose my invention aims to provide fan-supporting means arranged to permit the entire fan motor together with the fan guard to be reversed bodily, and also aims to provide simple yielding means for effectively holding the electric fan in either of its relatively reversed positions with respect to the shield. together with means for preventing the fan and guard assembly from being unduly rotated to such an extent as to damage the current-carrying cord leading to the fan.

In still another aspect. my invention aims to provide means for supporting an electric fan from a perforated shield without fastening the body of the fan directly to the shield in the usual vibration-transmitt-ing manner. For this purpose. my invention aims to provide an electric fan and guard assembly in which the electric fan is supported by the guard. in which single members will suffice for supporting the body of the fan from the guard and for suitably spacing certain portions of the guard, and in which the Serial No. 569,245.

body of the electric fan is widely spaced fr0m the shield at all times.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of a ventilator embodying my invention, taken from the interior of the room which is to be ventilated, with the adjustable shield in an nudist-ended disposition, and showing the electric fan disposed for blowing air out of the room.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame, with dotted lines showing the position of a part of the motor body when the fan is reversed in position from its disposition in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary and enlarged section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view similar to the central portion of the ventilator of Fig. 1, but showing the motor and guard assembly as reversed from the position of Fig. 1 to blow air into the room, the fan blade member being merely shown in dot-ted outline to avoid having it conceal other parts.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view. showing the position of the electric fan and guard assembly while the latter is being reversed in position with respect to the shield.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged and fragmentary section through portions of the shield. the fan guard and the guard-supporting stirrup, taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the adjust-- able shield of my window ventilator comprises three relatively slidable members, each composed of an upright sheet of metal hav ing flanges at its upper and lower edges. The central and main shield member comprises an upright sheet 1 having upper and lower edge flanges 2 and 3 each extending at an acute angle to the flat sheet portion 1. the latter portion being provided (desirably cent-rally) with an opening 4 which is spaced from all edges of the sheet portion 1. Each of the auxiliary shield members comprises a flat main portion -(5, 5 A) provided at its upper and lower edges respectrvely with flanges 6 and 7 and overhanging the said flanges 2 and 3 of the main shield member. Each auxilary shield member also desirably has its outer end recurved to form a flange 8, so as to avoid having the shield ends present sharp edges. Furthermore, each auxiliary shield member (or extension portion of the shield) desirably has a hook 9 fastened to it, for faciltating the sliding of that extension longitudinally of the main shield member or horizontally with respect to the latter.

When the shield extensions 5 and 5 A are slid towards each other to a position such as is shown in Fig. 1, the shield is compacted for shipment and for convenient insertion in the window frame. When then placed either on a window sill below the lower sash, or upon the top of the partly lowered upper sash, the extensions are slid apart against the side members of the window frame, after which each shield extension is latched against sliding by any suitable means.

For this latching I desirably provide two thumb-screws 1O threaded through the main shield member 1 respectively near the two upper corners of that member. Each of these screws has its tip disposed for pressing against the inner face of the auxiliary shield member 5, so as to rock the latter member about the bottom of the roove at the juncture of the lower flange with the upright part of the adjacent extension member, thereby pushing the upper flange 2 of the said main shield member away from the body portion 5 of the adjacent extension member and against the upper flange 6 on the shield extension, as shown in Fig. 3. To propel air through the opening 4 in the main shield member, I employ an electric fan, desirably with the fan blades of somewhat less spread than the diameter of this opening, the fan blade member being here shown as having two blades 11. But instead of supporting the body 12 of the electric fan in the usual manner by a base or pedestal, I suspend this fan body from a' guard frame and also provide means whereby this frame (together with the electric fan mounted on it) can be bodily rotated about an axis parallel to the general plane of the shield, so as to reverse the direction in which the fan will cause air to move through the opening in the shield.

As here illustrated, the needed guard frame consists of two parallel and counterpart wire rings 13 and 14 of a counterpart size somewhat larger in diameter than the shield opening 4, each such ring being here shown as octagonal to match the shape of the opening and also (for general harmony in appearance) to match the transverse sectioned shape of the casing of the fan body 12.

The two rings 13 and 14 are rigidly connected to each other by a plurality of spacer elements extending parallel to the axis of the fan, these spacer elements being here shown as comprising an upper spacer 15, a lower spacer 16, and four other spacer elements each of which forms an integral part of one of the two wire members which support the body of the fan from the two guard rings 13 and 14.

Each of these wire members consists of wire bent at its middle to afford a loop clamped against the motor body casing 12 by a nut 17, two diverging arms 18 and 19 leading from this loop to the forward guard ring 13, each of which arms is continued by a spacer wire portion 20 extending parallel to the axes of both the rings 13 and 14 outside these rings and welded to both rings, and a return wire portion 21 extending adjacent to the plane of the rear ring 14. The free end parts 21 A of these return wire portions desirably extend radially toward the shaft 22 of the motor, and these four end parts are rigidly connected to each other, as for example by a metal plate 23 to which they are welded.

Thus arranged, the just described two wire members rigidly support the electric fan motor from two guard rings 13 and 14, in addition to cooperating with the upper and lower spacers 15 and 16 (which desirably are formed from sheet metal strips) for holding these guard rings rigidly spaced and coaxial with the axis of the fan blade member, thereby providing a guard assemblage within which the fan motor is suspended.

To support this guard assemblage from the shield in such a manner as to permit the operative direction of the fan to be reversed, I connect the middle points of the spacer strips 15 and 16 respectively to the main shield member 1 by two parallel links 24 and 24 A, these links preferably being the two arms of a stirrup which has its back 25 extending through and journaled in two brackets 26 and 26 A fastened to the main shield member 1. Each of the link-formin arms 24 and 24 A of this stirrup has its free end (24 B or 24 O) bent towards that of the other arm and extending through a perforation 27 in the adjacent spacer (15 or 16), the arms 24 and 24 A being desirably freely spaced by approximately the spacing between the oppositely directed faces of the spacer strips 15 and 16.

Thus arranged, the entire motor and guard assembly is movably supported and can be swung away from the shield by grasping portions of the guard and rocking the stirrup about its pivotal connection to the shield. When the stirrup has thus been swung to a sufiicient extent, so that a lateral edge portion of each ring of the guard can swing through the opening (as shown at the top of Fig. 5), the fan motor and guard assembly can be manually rotated about the common axis of the stirrup arm ends 24 A and 24 B to reverse the operative direction of the fan.

That is to say, if the fan initially was outward of the room from the fan body, as in i Fig. 1, a continued clockwise rotation of the fan and guard assembly beyond the medial position shown in Fig. 5 will dispose the fan inward of the room from the fan body as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, thereby causing the fan to draw air into the room instead of blowing it out of the room.

To prevent the said stirrup from rocking about its pivotal connection to the shield when the fan is in either of its two operative provisions, I provide spring means continually pressing the free arm ends of the stirrup toward the shield. For this purpose I am here showing a spring 28 coiled about the back 25 of the stirrup, with one end portion 28 A of the spring bearing against the'shield and the other end portion 28 B hooked over one arm or shank 24 of the stirrup.

To reduce a possible transmission of vibrations from the motor to the shield and to eliminate possible rattling, I interpose a plurality of resilient bumpers between the shield and the guard ring (13 or 14) which happens to be adjacent to the shield. These umpers or cushions desirably are rubber cushions 29 spaced around the opening 4 in the shield, with two of these cushions disposed respectively for engaging the curled ends of the guard ring spacers 15 and 16, and with other cushions 29 A disposed for engaging side'portions of either of the guard rings 13 and 14 according to the direction in which the guard assembly faces. These cushions not only prevent any possible rattling but also compensate for irregularities in the assemblage of the parts of my window ventilator, so that by employing them in combination with motor-supporting portions I readily make my ventilator entirely noiseless.

The flexible cord 30 for supplying current to the motor desirably extends upwardly through a perforation in the lower guard ring spacer, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and this cord might easily be damaged if the fan motor and guard assembly was unduly twist- A ed in one direction.

To avoid this, I provide the upper guard ring spacer '15 with a riser finger 31 disposed for engaging the upper stirrup arm 24 to limit a rotation of the guard assembly in one direction, and provide the lower guard ring spacer with a depending finger 32 disposed for engaging the lower stirrup arm 24 to limit such rotation in the other direction.

Since the upper and lower edge flanges 2 and 3 on the main shield member 1 stiffen the latter, and since further rigidity is added by the engagement of these edge flanges with the flanges 6 and 7 on the extension members of the shield, a relatively thin grade. of metal sufiices for the entire shield. In practice, a relatively small size of fan motor also will abut against the sides of sufiice for effectively forcing air either into a room, or out of a room to eliminate smoke or kitchen odors. Consequently, my entire ventilator can be so light as to be easily handled by a woman for placing it in a window frame or removing it from this frame; and the entire cost only needs to be a small fraction of that of the window ventilators heretofore commonly employed, thus placing my convenient and effective ventilator within the reach of homes of modest means.

By supporting the electric fan portion so that this can readily be reversed longitudinally, I cause my appliance to serve in a dual capacity, so that my window ventilator is equally effective for serving a large number of purposes. For example, when the pivoted fan motor and guard assembly is disposed with the motor body inside the room (as in Fig. 1), my ventilator will speedily blow smoke, kitchen fumes or accumulated hot air out of the room regardless of any prevailing wind. But when reversed in position, the fan motor will equally rapidly draw outer air into the room.

However, while I have heretofore described my invention in connection with an embodiment including numerous desirable details of construction and arrangement such as a vertical disposition of the pivot axes in the connections between the shield and the fan guard assembly, and the providing of a laterally extensible shield-I do not wish to be limited to these, since many changes could obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of my inven tion or the scope of the appended claims. Nor do I wish to be limited to the use of the various novel features of my invention conjointly with one another.

oreover, my entire ventilating appliance can be assembled as a unit at the factory and packed in a relatively small cartonparticularly when the fan is of a socalled 8 inch size Which I have found ample for use in household rooms or small ofiices-so that neither the dealer nor the user needs to do any assembling. All the user has to do is to set my ventilator in the window frame, slide the shield extensions apart until they theframe between the usual sash-guiding upright strips on this frame, and attach the usual plug at the end of the electric cord to a current supply socket.

And, since the lightness of my ventilator all lows even a frail woman to move it readily, my appliance can readily be used "interchangeably in many portions of a homeas for example in the kitchen during the day. the dining room at mealtime, and a bed room (or a hall leading to several bedrooms) at night.

I claim as my invention:

1. A window ventilator including an electric fan and an upright shield supporting the fan; the shield comprising a sheet metal main member having an opening coaxial with the fan and having its upper and lower portions bent to form upper and lower flanges extending toward each other at acute angles to the general plane of the said main mem her; an extension shield member having its major portion upright and having upper and lower flanges respectively overhanging and under-hanging the aforesaid flanges on the main shield member; and adjustable means threaded through the main member adjacent to the upper flange thereof and engaging the extension shield member to rock the latter about the lower edge of the flange on the latter member, thereby pushing the upper flange of the main shield member away from the extension member and against the upper flange on the extension shield member.

A ventilating appliance comprising an upright shield provided with an opening, an electrifan closely adjacent to and in axial alinement with said opening and disposed for moving air through the opening; a guard member rigidly fastened to and supporting the electric fan; and a supporting stirrup including a stirrup-back parallel to the guard member and pivoted to the guard member, and also including stirrup shanks spanning the guard member; the stirrup having the free ends of its shanks pivoted to the guard member on an axis parallel to the axis on which the stirrup back is pivoted to the shield, so as to permit the guard and the fan to be conjointly reversed in direction with respect to the said opening.

3. A ventilating appliance as per claim 2, in which the electric fan includes a blade member housed by the guard member and a motor outside the guard member, the motor being considerably smaller in diameter than said opening and extending through the said opening when the guard and fan are in one operative position.

t. A ventilating appliance comprising an upright shield provided with an opening. an electric fan including a rotatable blade member in axial alinement with the said opening; a guard member fast with respect to and suliporting the electric fan. the guard 1nember including two guard rings of larger diameter than the said o ening and spaced longitudinally of the blade member and respectively at opposite sides of the blade member: a supporting stirrup including stirrup-back and pivotally connect-ed to the shield. and also including stirrup-shanks pivoted at their face. ends to the guard member upon a vertical axis to permit the fan to be reversed in direction with respect to the said opening; and spring means interposed between the shield and the stirrup for normally causing the stirrup to press one or the other of the said guard rings against the shield: the disposition of the said pivotal connection and the length of the said stirrup shanks being such that the blade member is coaxial with the opening when either guard ring is thus pressed against the shield.

5. In a ventilating appliance, a fan guard member, an electric fan supported by the guard member and having its blades housed by the said guard member; an upright shield provided with a perforation of smaller diameter than the guard member; a supporting stirrup having including an upright stirrupback parallel to and pivoted to the shield at one side of the opening and also including stirrup-shanks extending respectively above and below the fan guard member, the free ends of the said shanks being bent toward each other to afford stub shafts upon which the guard is pivoted on a common upright axis extending parallel to the said back; and stop means mounted upon the guard member and disposed for engaging the stirrup to limit the rotational movement of the guard memher about the said upright axis in both directions.

6. A reversible ventilating appliance comprising an upright shield provided with an opening; a stirrup having its back upright and pivoted to the shield and extending at one side of the perforation and parallel to the general plane of the shield, the stirrup having its arms normally extending respectively at a higher elevation than the top of the perforation and at a lower elevation than c the bottom of the perforation; a fan guard extending between the free ends of the said arms and pivoted to the latter on a guard pivot axis parallel to the said back, an electric fan rigidly supported by the guard, the fan including a blade member housed by the guard; the axis of the blademanner extending transverse of and intersecting the said pivot axis,-so that the fan can be reversed as to the operative direction of the blade member by a half rotation of the guard about the guard pivot axis.

7. A ventilating appliance as per claim (5, in which the fan guard includes two rings spaced in the direction of the axis of the fan and of larger diameter than the said' opening, and in which the shield includes resilient cushions spaced about the said opening and disposed for simultaneously engaging portions of one or the other of the said rings, according to the direction in which the fan faces, the said cushions serving to deter the transmission of vibration from the electric fan to the shield.

8. A reversible window'ventilator, comprising an upright shield provided with an opening, a guard member including two rings normally coaxial with the opening and spaced from each other along the axis of the opening, each of the rings being of larger diameter than the said opening; two spacers rigidly connecting the rings and respcctive- 1 connecting upper and lower portions of t e rings, two links pivotally connected at one end to the shield on an upright axis, the links being pivotally connected at their other ends respectively to said spacers on a common axis to permit the guard member to be rotated about the said axis and an electric fan supported by the guard member and including a blade member housed by the guard member, the blade member having its axis at right angles to and intersecting the said common upright axis.

9. A window ventilator as per claim 8, including spring means interposed between the shield and the said links for normally pressing one or the other of the said rings against the shield, according to :the direction in which the blade member faces.

10. A window ventilator as per claim 8, including an electric cord leading to the electric fan and having a cord portion extending through one of the spacers approximately in alinement with the said common axis.

11. A window ventilator as per claim 8, in-

" eluding an electric cord leading to the electric fan and having a cord portion extending through one of the spacers approximately in alinement with the said common upright axis; and means associated with the links for limiting the rotational movement of the guard member about the said common uprights axis to not materially more than a half-turn, so as to prevent undue twisting of the said cord.

12. A ventilating appliance comprising an upright shield provided with an opening, an electric fan, a fan-supporting member having spaced portions thereof pivotally connected respectively to the shield and to the fan,-

upon parallel pivot axes, the axis of the pivotal connection of the supporting member to the fan intersecting the axis of the fan; and yielding means operatively interposed between the shield and the supporting member for normally holding the supporting member in a position in which the fan is adjacent to and in axial alinement with the said opening; the spacing between the said parallel axes being such as to permit the fansupporting member to be swung sufiiciently about the axis on which that member is pivoted to the shield, so that the electric fan may be rotated 180 degrees about the other pivot axis before the fan-supporting member is returned to its said normal position by the action of the yielding means.

13. In a ventilating appliance, a fan guard member, an electric fan supported by the Hard member and having its blades housed y the guard member; an upright shield provided with a perforation; a supporting stirrup having its back parallel to and pivoted to the shield, and having its shanks extending respectively above and below the fan guard member, the free ends of the said shanks being pivoted to the guard member on a common axis extending parallel to the said back; two stopelements fast upon the guard member and respectively disposed for engaging the two shanks of the stirrup to limit the rotational movement of the guard member about the said common axis in opposite directions to fully but not materially more than a half-turn.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, October 10th,

EDWARD S. PRESTON. 

